[moralfibre]

Originally Posted by HWD

- While going i took the Mumbai-Thane-Igatpuri-Goti BP-Sinnar-Shirdi (240kms; ~4 hours with one half an hour stop).

Tips:
- Leave early in morning from Mumbai to avoid the heat
- Manas Resort is a great place for a stop, may seem a bit expensive
- You will find a lot of villagers selling fresh grapes, onions around Nasik and Shirdi at dirt cheap rates. Good pick up on your way back.

I did a Andheri - Thane - Kasara - Ghoti - Sinnar -Shirdi drive on Sunday morning. Left at 5:00 am and reached at 8:45 with a 15 minute break. The roads were fully empty except for long queues of devotees blocking one lane walking to Shirdi at many stretches. The road was excellent throughout except for the narrow stretch between Sinnar and Shirdi which is a little dangerous in my opinion.

Returned to Pune via Sangamner and the road condition was good throughout.

[CowlFlap]

I have travelled fairly frequently between Nashik and Mumbai in the mid-nineties, though I haven’t visited thereabouts since the last 4 years. I had a couple of questions for folks who’ve traveled this route recently:
1. I understand the roads are a lot better now, with a 3 (4?) lane highway/expressway between Thane and Nashik. Is this also true in the Igatpuri ghat section? My last experiences of the ghat section were not great – 3 to 4 hour traffic jams on inclines, trucks et all
2. On the Thane-Shirdi route, has anyone tried bypassing Nashik and Deolali via the Nagpur-Aurangabad-Mumbai highway, which is essentially a right turn just after (at) Ghoti (Ghoti - Sinnar)? How are the road/traffic conditions on this route?

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by CowlFlap

I have travelled fairly frequently between Nashik and Mumbai in the mid-nineties, though I haven’t visited thereabouts since the last 4 years. I had a couple of questions for folks who’ve traveled this route recently:
1. I understand the roads are a lot better now, with a 3 (4?) lane highway/expressway between Thane and Nashik. Is this also true in the Igatpuri ghat section? My last experiences of the ghat section were not great – 3 to 4 hour traffic jams on inclines, trucks et all
2. On the Thane-Shirdi route, has anyone tried bypassing Nashik and Deolali via the Nagpur-Aurangabad-Mumbai highway, which is essentially a right turn just after (at) Ghoti (Ghoti - Sinnar)? How are the road/traffic conditions on this route?

Nowadays, the best route from Bombay is to turn off NH3 at Ghoti & go direct to Sinnar instead of via Nashik. Excellent roads.

[CowlFlap]

Thanks hvkumar.
Looking to head toward deolali, but via the south (Bhagur area). I guess I'll have to take a right at some point onroute Ghoti-Sinnar - google shows Shatabdi polytech to be best point to do this. Never done this one before, though willing to give it a try. Anyone on the forum with inputs on approaching Deolali from the south? - destination Barnes School area.

[SuperBee]

Guys,

Planning to visit Shirdi and Shani Shignapur, leaving Mumbai Friday night and coming back Sunday morning. Last minute decision by the parents and hence no prior planning on the route has been done. I've been hearing the Ghoti route is unsafe to drive on in the night. Any pointers on which route to take and which to avoid?

Thanks!

Regards,
SuperBee.

[StrangeWizard]

Originally Posted by SuperBee

Guys,

Planning to visit Shirdi and Shani Shignapur, leaving Mumbai Friday night and coming back Sunday morning. Last minute decision by the parents and hence no prior planning on the route has been done. I've been hearing the Ghoti route is unsafe to drive on in the night. Any pointers on which route to take and which to avoid?

Thanks!

Regards,
SuperBee.

I did mumbai shirdi mumbai last year.

Left early morning by mumbai nashik highway NH3 and then took the route from nashik to shirdi by asking some locals there.
There are many places where you can halt on Nh3

While coming back I took the shirdi - ghoti bypass. The Road is of good quality but only 1 Lane each side and no divider between.
Also since there are many curves on the road it would be a bit difficult to drive there in the dark because the high beams of the oncoming vehicles would keep blinding you.
When I drove there, there were hardly any street lights.

Also, there were no hotels, dhaba etc there where you can take a halt so if someone's car breaks down there it could be a problem. This was around 8pm.

The ghoti bypass merges with the NH3 in the end but I'd suggest you take the shirdi-nashik - mumbai route while returning too.

Distance is around 250kms one way.

[ghodlur]

Sorry for the rather late update.

I had done a Thane Shirdi trip a couple of weekends back. The road till Igatpuri was great with some bad patches but was able to easily touch 80+ kmph. The road from Ghoti to Sinnar was also good with again bad patches in some places esp before & after a few villages. The worst thing which trioubled me was the unmarked rumbler speed breakers before & after villages. Couple of them took me by total surprise. Again Sinnar to Shirdi was Okish but the city roads in Shirdi were absolutely horrible. Was surprised to see the sorry state of roads in the second richest temple city. The total distance of 229 kms was covered in aboput 4.5 hrs with an 1/2hr chai break in between. Toll on the way= 29 (Thane to Vadpe) + 95 (Igatpuri)

Then travelled from Shirdi to Pune via Ahmednagar. The road again till about 10kms from Shirdi was horrible and potholed. A couple of places the two lane became a single lane (each side). There was this unfinished bridge enroute at Kolhar which saw the biggest jam since there was heavy truck traffic and two way lane on the bridge which took about 30 minutes to cross a 200 mtr bridge. The best stretch was Ahmednagar to Pune which was tolled road and nice tarmac to drive. The irritation stated few kms before the Pune city at Shikrapur, Talegaon Dhabade, Wagholi when the traffic build up slowed down the average speed. Reached the destination of 212 kms in 6 hrs. . Toll on the way = 30 (Kopargaon-Ahmednagar) + 35 (location dont remember) + 37 (location dont remember).

[honeybee]

As for the risk, the state highways, especially in the interiors, will not have any support or infrastructure if your vehicle breaks down. I did drive till Ozar via Ghoti - Bhandardara - Otur, and till you hit a major town, there are no petrol pumps, no repair shops, not even any tyre repair guys around. The stretches were almost deserted with an occasional vehicle accompanying you. At late evenings or nights, even the scarce local traffic will have dried up and you may be stranded.

Other than this, I don't think there would be any other major risks.

[gurha]

Hello everyone,

I'm planning to visit Shirdi on next Saturday i.e. 17th Aug(Saturday). Planning to start early from Mumbai and then visit Shirdi and if time permits will visit Shani Shingnapur and then want to reach Pune on the way back.

So, I just want to know how crowded it will be in Shirdi and will it be possible for me to reach Pune on the same day. Because next day, I've to start for Bangalore from Pune.

Thanks,
-Pallav

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by gurha

I'm planning to visit Shirdi on next Saturday i.e. 17th Aug(Saturday). Planning to start early from Mumbai and then visit Shirdi and if time permits will visit Shani Shingnapur and then want to reach Pune on the way back.

So, I just want to know how crowded it will be in Shirdi and will it be possible for me to reach Pune on the same day. Because next day, I've to start for Bangalore from Pune.

Pallav,

Refer to post#37, I just did that route a month back. If its just darshan at Shirdi (no stayput) then you can do the Shirdi-Pune run too. The darshan might take 3-4 hrs max, I did the darshan in flat 2hrs. Saturdays IMO is not crowded with mostly nearby locals (Nashik, A'nagar). If you plan to visit Shani Shingnapur, then it may take time coz the roads are bad. Depending on the darshan time you can take a call.
Mumbai-Shirdi is 4.5 hrs with halt. Shirdi-Pune is actually 3.5-4 hrs but will depend on what time you reach Pune. If its evening then add an hour extra. two routes from Shirdi to Pune - via Ahmednaga & via Sangamner. I would suggest Ahmednagar route coz Shirdi-A'nagar is 4 laned with patches of 2 lane. A'nagar-Pune is 4 laned again but good roads.

[arijit]

This is an road condition update for mates wanting to visit Shirdi from Mumbai.
I did the trip over the weekend of 19th-20th Oct and used the following routes:

Mumbai to Shirdi via Nashik:
- The Mumbai-Agra Highway : up to Nashik is in fairly good condition but be aware of small stretches along where the road top surface have come off making it uneven. At some spots (between Kasara & Igatpuri, potholes on the highway have been filled with paver blocks, which are not exactly in alignment with the rest of the road - so be careful as to not damage your car.

Be careful of some small potholes that are yet to be worked upon.

- Nashik : the new 6.1km flyover is a boon : On entering Nashik city, maintain the middle or right lane and take the flyover. Keep an eye on the "small" exit board for Shirdi after about 3kms on the flyover. You need to take the exit ramp (do not continue on the flyover) and then take a right from the Dwarka Circle (where you land up on taking the mid-flyover exit ramp).

On the lane back (towards Mumbai), in many areas the roads are totally broken (unlike only surface being chipped - so this will slow you down.) In some places, you have to go dead slow to get over the potholes (specially small cars & sedans) as they are pretty big ( wondering what quality of materials had been used in this "not so old" highway!)

- Nashik - Sinnar: Other than the infinite number of two-wheelers & three wheelers hogging the road, you need to keep an eye for the rough roads until you exit the city limits.

After the city limits, besides the narrow two lane old highway, it is the numerous potholes that you will need to be aware of - your speed will be auto-controlled . Before entering Sinnar however the road surface is fair once again.

- Sinnar - Shirdi : Good four laned road for most of the part (without any median after exiting Sinnar town) except two areas : First where road widening work is starting - this is approx 1 - 1.5km (roughly 25 kms from Sinnar). Second area : road is full of potholes/craters for a stretch of apprx. 2-3kms (around 12kms before Shirdi). And upon entering the outskirts of Shirdi, roads are in pathetic condition until Police Station, Shirdi.

RETURN : Was via Sinnar - Ghoti road and rest was as above, so details of this part :

Sinnar - Ghoti : Road surface is smooth for most part (be aware of the unmarked bumps/rumblers on approach & exit of village areas as some of them are pretty bad. Small parts (more near towards Ghoti), the road surfaces are broken, have potholes.

Be careful if driving post-sundown as some of these bad patches are difficult to identify from far off - and when you are doing 80/90+ kmph, chances are you will be caught unaware, specially so as rest of the highway is in good condition.

Hope this information helps someone at least!

[madhu33]

Planning to visit Shani Shingnapur this saturday . I stay at Goregaon west .

I plan to leave around 12 noon (cant leave early as elder son will come back by school(Exams) at 11.30 am)

THe idea is to visit Shani Shingnapur on saturday . then post darshan come to Shirdi - Have dinner and check in some decent hotel in Shirdi .

If it is late in Shingnapur post darshan can we find a decent hotel there for an overnight stay? Or is it advisable to come to Shirdi for overnight stay ?

Then Shirdi and Trimbakeshwar on Sunday and back to Mumbai by Sunday early evening.

Query :
1)Which is the best route to take for SHINGNAPUR ?
2)He idea is to visit Shani Shingnapur on saturday . then post darshan come to Shirdi - Have dinner and check in some decent hotel in Shirdi .
If it is late in Shingnapur post darshan can we find a decent hotel there for an overnight stay? Or is it advisable to come to Shirdi for overnight stay ?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by madhu33

1)Which is the best route to take for SHINGNAPUR ?

Mumbai- Pune - Chakan - Shikrapur - Shirur - Nagar - Shani Shignapur.

Please confirm if Chakan bypass is in good shape. If yes, that seems like a good method to bypass Pune.

2)He idea is to visit Shani Shingnapur on saturday . then post darshan come to Shirdi - Have dinner and check in some decent hotel in Shirdi .
If it is late in Shingnapur post darshan can we find a decent hotel there for an overnight stay? Or is it advisable to come to Shirdi for overnight stay ?

Its about 300km. I would say start earlier so as to be able to complete darshan and be able to come to Shirdi by evening. Since roads around Shirdi are not good and full of potholes, it makes sense to do these sections with daylight.

[madhu33]

Originally Posted by ampere

Mumbai- Pune - Chakan - Shikrapur - Shirur - Nagar - Shani Shignapur.

Please confirm if Chakan bypass is in good shape. If yes, that seems like a good method to bypass Pune.

Looking at Google maps i was also tempted to take this route. But somehow couple of casual query to office colleagues seems to suggest to take ... the route Mumbai - thane - Igatpuri - Ghoti -SINNAR -

Any particular reason you are suggesting to take Mumbai- Pune - Chakan - Shikrapur - Shirur - Nagar - Shani Shignapur. route ???

Originally Posted by ampere

Its about 300km. I would say start earlier so as to be able to complete darshan and be able to come to Shirdi by evening. Since roads around Shirdi are not good and full of potholes, it makes sense to do these sections with daylight.

As mentioned in my post , i cant leave early due to school exam of my 7 year old son.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by madhu33

Any particular reason you are suggesting to take Mumbai- Pune - Chakan - Shikrapur - Shirur - Nagar - Shani Shignapur. route ???

Simply because road conditions till Shani Shignapur are very good. Although traffic is heavy, conditions are very good.

Secondly if you go via Sinnar/Sangamer, remember you have to goto Shani Shignapur first. That means you cross Shirdi and come back again. In other words you are doing the pathetic roads two times in the same day.